<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Letters to his darling by SantaMalgastadora</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26515834">Letters to his darling</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SantaMalgastadora/pseuds/SantaMalgastadora'>SantaMalgastadora</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Arcana (Visual Novel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Engagement, Fluff, Gen, House Cleaning, Julian is messy!, Kissing, Love Letters, POV Second Person, Secrets</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:41:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,562</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26515834</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SantaMalgastadora/pseuds/SantaMalgastadora</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>...and before you can stop yourself, your eyes are roaming through the papers, the texts on them, short, long, crossed out, repeated over and over again... You can easily imagine Julian hunched over them, his chin on his palm, his hair in his eyes. You can hear his voice as you start to read the papers - letters to… his darling.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Apprentice/Julian Devorak, Julian Devorak/Reader, Julian Devorak/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>185</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Letters to his darling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"A magician, a shopkeep, the Countess' advisor and, apparently, a house cleaner," you murmur to yourself, annoyance buzzing in your veins as you pick up Julian's clothes discarded on the floor of your shared bedroom.</p><p>Why are you even doing this? If he wants to trip over them and land on his face every morning, it's his problem. So why do you bother? Why do you keep bending down and picking up his stuff every day? Why do you dress his bruised elbows and knees, and fall for his <em> I-know-I'm-sorry-Don't-be-mad-I-love-you </em> eyes every time?</p><p>"A house cleaner and a nurse!" you snort.</p><p>You move on and on until your eye catches his shirt hurled between your bed and the wall. You throw your head back with a groan.</p><p>It's been there for a month. Four weeks. One, two, three, four - four weeks! That's how long you've been asking him to remove it, how long Julian's been promising to do it, and how long it has not happened!</p><p>Huffing and cursing, you mercifully lean down and pick it up.</p><p>"Damn it, Julian!" you swear under your breath when you reveal a cardboard box.</p><p><em> Leeches</em>, says a scribble committed with his godforsaken handwriting.</p><p>Does he have to…? Are there seriously no better places for clothes and freaking leeches??</p><p>You sigh, pick the box up and-</p><p>The bottom opens and a cascade of loose papers falls to the floor.</p><p>"Bloody hell…" you sigh again when the rustle ends.</p><p>Great. Just great. Because you haven't gotten enough. You haven't broken your back yet. You've got nothing better to do. You're thrilled to pick up more of your boyfriend's stuff so he don't kill himself. Living the dream.</p><p>At least it wasn't full of leeches...</p><p>You put the box on the bed, kneel and start to collect the papers.</p><p>When a word catches your eye:</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Darling,</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Your heart skips a beat.</p><p>It's none of your business, you don't mean to or even want to read them. These are his, especially if these are letters. But as you gather them, you realize the word appears on almost each of them.</p><p>
  <em> Darling, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Darling, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Darling… </em>
</p><p>Before you can stop yourself, your eyes are roaming through the papers, some neat, some crumpled impatiently; the texts on them, short, long, crossed out, repeated over and over again, sentences unfinished... You can easily imagine Julian hunched over them in a dim light of a candle, his chin on his palm, his hair in his eyes. You can hear his voice as you start to read the papers - letters to… his darling.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Darling,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'm writing to you <strike> because I wanted to tell you </strike>    <strike> because  because </strike>   <strike> because </strike>  </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Darling, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I </em>
</p><p>(here's nothing more, it seems the paper was right away crumpled up)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Darling, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I'm writing to you because whenever I try to tell you this, words fail me. I wanted to tell you that I </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> My dearest, my love, my heart, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> You saved me. More than once, in more than one way. You saved my life, my soul, you saved me from losing my mind. You saved me from myself. For that, I will never be able to repay you but I want to try. You saved me, so I'm yours. You showed me respect, compassion and trust, you showed me there's hope and future for me, <strike> so the least I can do is to respect you and care for you till </strike> </em>
</p><p>
  <strike> <em> You took care of me when I didn't deserve it </em> </strike>
</p><p>
  <em> You made me feel happy and safe, you gave me love and affection, so the least I can do is to  </em>
</p><p>
  <strike> <em> fuck </em> </strike>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> My sweetest darling, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I love you. </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> My angel, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> My darling, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I love you. I love you so much. I've loved you for such a long time. <strike> I would be honoured if you'd let me love you for the rest of my life. </strike> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> If you let me, I will love you for the rest of my life. <strike> If you want me </strike> </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> My love, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> If you'll have me, I will love you, cherish you, worship you for the rest of my life. I promise </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Darling, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> There are no words in any of the languages I speak to describe how much I love you. But if you let me, I'll dedicate my life to prove you how much. <strike> There's nothing in this world that I'd rather </strike> If you let me, you'll never be alone, you'll never be cold or hungry, you'll never be in pain. Your sadness will be my sadness, your joy will be my joy. And if in return you give me a smile, a kiss, a kind word, just like only you do - I'll be the happiest man under the sun. </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Darling, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Every day, every moment I may spend with you is a blessing. </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Darling, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I love you. I just love you. All I want is you. All I need is you. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. You're the most wonderful person I have ever met. You made me the man I am now, the one I am not ashamed of anymore, the one I am proud of. And I'm proud to say I'm yours, I am blessed to belong to you, I dare say you're mine... If I may, if you want it, too, <strike> I wanted to ask you </strike>   <strike>I've been</strike>    <strike> I wanted to ask if you </strike> </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The sound of the door opening makes your head shoot up. Your eyes meet Julian's, then his fall to the floor, to his letters spread in front of you.</p><p>"I- I'm sorry…! It was an accident, I didn't mean to- " you stammer, scrambling up to your feet. You blink, and a tear or two escape and roll down your burning cheeks. You wipe them away quickly, and damn, your hands are shaking…</p><p>You look back up at Julian, who's still standing at the door. His cheeks and ears got as red as yours probably are. He keeps staring at the papers, eyes wide in shock.</p><p>"I'm so sorry…" you repeat.</p><p>He shakes his head and finally looks at you. He breaks into a shy smile. "These were meant for you anyway," he breathes and comes up to you, reaching into the breast pocket of his jacket. He takes out a small, velvet box. "I've been carrying it for a month… Didn't know how to ask..." He yelps softly when without a warning, you throw yourself into his arms.</p><p>"<em>Yes</em>," you whisper hotly into his ear.</p><p>A big, bright, silly smile blooms on his face and he wraps his arms around you and nuzzles his cheek into your hair, breathing you in in a sigh of relief. "You haven't even seen the ring yet."</p><p>"I'm marrying you for you, not for the ring."</p><p>Julian bursts with an overjoyed chuckle and holds you tighter, presses your body close to his until you can feel his precious heart pound strongly right next to yours.</p><p>"And yes, I've seen it," you add. "You doodled it on one of the letters. It's beautiful."</p><p>"Oh, darling, I… I… I don't know what to say, I- "</p><p>You draw back, cup his cheeks and shush him with a kiss. "I love you, too, Julian."</p><p>He melts into a smile and kisses you back, gently, softly, as if you meant the world to him. "I love you so much."</p><p>"And I'm never picking up your stuff again."</p><p>He laughs, kisses you again. "Of course, darling."</p><p>"But I'm glad it wasn't a real box of leeches."</p><p>And again, this kiss lingering. "Sorry, darling."</p><p>"Are there any actual leeches stocked in the bedroom?"</p><p>He kisses you yet again, longer, harder. "I love you."</p><p>"Did you hear me?"</p><p>Again, with his tongue darting over the seam of your lips. "I love you."</p><p>"Julian…"</p><p>He picks you up and carries to bed. "I love you." He sits down with you straddling his lap and brings you for another kiss, tilts his head, parts your lips with his, smoothes the tip of his tongue teasingly over your teeth, then, when you gasp, slides it into your mouth, giving your tongue and palate a hot, shameless swipe. "I love you and" He does it again, opening the box behind your back. He extracts the ring and takes your hand. "please, my darling," He slips it on your finger, and his heart sings at the feeling of your smile against his lips. "please don't check the top wardrobe shelf."</p><p>You move away. "What?"</p><p>"Ohh, I love you so much!" he moans, flipping you on your back and pressing you down with his body. He keeps kissing you, keeps your lips busy, rolls his hips between your thighs, drawing your attention there, successfully so, because soon, your breath quickens and you mewl, and begin to move with him, and grab his shirt and pull it out of his pants and slip your hands underneath it. And he hums contently, enjoying the new feeling of the ring on your finger as you touch his back, and his chest, and neck, and cheek; and between your entwined fingers… And he makes a mental note to clean up the top wardrobe shelf.</p><p>And under the bed.</p><p>And that one bottom drawer in the kitchen, even though you asked only about the bedroom.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <a href="https://santamalgastadora.tumblr.com/">santamalgastadora</a>
</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>